SANDUSKY, Ohio — Ohio's Division of Cannabis Control has approved the first provisional licenses to sell recreational marijuana.
As of Sunday, 78 Ohio medical marijuana dispensaries have received regulators' pre-approval for dual-use recreational sales, including 21 located in Northeast Ohio.
They are:
- The Forest Dispensary - 5020 Milan Road, Sandusky (Perkins Township)
- CREAM Apothecaries - 914 Cleveland St., Elyria
- Greenleaf Apothecaries - 46 S. Summit St., Akron
- The Green Goat Dispensary - 4016 Greentree SW, Canton
- Italian Herbs Dispensary - 2712 W. Prospect Rd., Ashtabula
- Mother Know's [sic] Best - 3224 Cleveland Ave. NW, Canton
- Amplify CH - 1782 Coventry Rd., Cleveland Heights
- Amplify Bedford - 22803 Rockside Rd., Bedford
- Good Day Dispensary - 34480 Vine St., Willowick
- Simple AG Ohio - 554 N. Chestnut St., Ravenna
- GTI Ohio - 11818 Madison Ave., Lakewood
- GTI Ohio - 1920 Cooper Foster Park Rd., Lorain
- NMG OH 1 - 709 Sugar Lane, Elyria
- GTI Ohio - 1222 Prospect Ave. E.. Cleveland
- Next-Level Operators - 331 E. Main St., Kent
- FRX Health - 1682 State Rd., Cuyahoga Falls
- Citizen Real Estate - 401 Cherry Ave. NE, Canton
- Citizen Real Estate - 5152 Grove Ave., Lorain
- Green Power OH - 13429 Lakewood Heights Blvd., Cleveland
- Ohio Patient Access - 6019 Milan Rd., Sandusky
- INSA Ohio - 27751 Chardon Rd., Willoughby Hills
"Everyone wants to know when," said Jared Maloof, CEO of Standard Wellness, owners of The Forest Dispensary. "Everyone is waiting with anticipation with regard to when we are going to go."
The Forest Dispensary is hoping to make history once again, after being among the first medical dispensaries to open in Ohio in 2019. Now it is on the brink of being among the first to begin recreational sales.
Next for these provisionally licensed dispensaries is a final inspection of each location and a review of their standard operating procedures, followed by a one-on-one meeting with a regulator from the Division of Cannabis Control. After the final review, the state can issue an operational certificate to the dispensary, which would allow it to begin adult-use sales.
"Best guess? One to two weeks," Maloof surmised as to when recreational sales can begin.
Retail sales of recreational marijuana will initially begin at Ohio's approximately 130 existing marijuana dispensaries that are licensed for dual recreational use, following the passage of Issue 2, the citizen-initiated statute that was approved by 57% of Ohio voters last November. The DCC began accepting dual-use license applications on June 7, and industry insiders had anticipated that adult-use sales would begin by the end of June, but that date appears to now be headed for sometime in early or mid-July.
State regulators are making no promises, nor will the start date for recreational sales be the same for all medical dispensaries. A spokesperson for the Department of Commerce said in a statement to 3News, "It’s important to keep in mind that, based on the criteria above, there will be no one singular day when sales begin. We will start issuing licenses and it will be up to the retailer based on staffing, stock and other considerations as to which day they will begin sales."
Maloof says his company is ready now.
"We've already hired up. We've brought on almost double the staff," he said. "We need that inspection, we need to meet with the department, and that will be it."
In addition to the dispensaries, the DCC has also approved a provisional dual-use processor license in Oberlin, a cultivator license in Ravenna Township, and Testing lab licenses in Akron and Streetsboro.